Google said Thursday that it is opening up its Google+ social network to teens 13 and over, while rolling out new protections for those teens who join.

The hand-holding will include a "red" label for public posts, as well as what may be the controversial practice of kicking a teen user off of his or her own Hangout if a stranger joins. The new protections will roll out to everyone who's old enough for a Google account, which is a now a minimum age of 13 in the United States. Previously, users had to be 18 to join.

The new age restrictions will undoubtedly help Google increase its user base, which currently stands at about 90 million users. It also puts it on par with Facebook, which also has a 13-year-old minimum age requirement.

"Traditional services restrict teens from using desirable functionality, which gives them an incentive to misrepresent themselves, a Google spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. "Our aim with Google+ is to create an environment that encourages teens to represent themselves on Google+ as they do in real life. For example, we set age-appropriate defaults but supply teens with educational materials and the capability to modify those settings based on their own choices."

Google said that it had also welcomed a number of teen-friendly groups and brands to Google+, including Cody Simpson, the TV show Glee, The Hunger Games, Nickelodeon, Selena Gomez, and Teen Vogue, among others. So far, teen idol Justin Bieber has yet to join.

Google also said that it built a new safety center for Google+, which a special emphasis on teens. That content had not been built out at press time, however.

Google said it recognizes that teens are one of the most active groups on the Web, especially social networks, but that they tend to "over-share" content with others. "With Google+, we want to help teens build meaningful connections online," Bradley Horowitz, Google's vice president of product, said in a Google+ post. "We also want to provide features that foster safety alongside self-expression."

Google's new features include a warning to avoid sharing too much information publicly: "When you share publicly, people you haven't added to your circles will be able to view your post and may be able to comment," the new popup warning reads.

The protections also prohibit strangers not in a teen's circle from contacting them online. If they do, the teenager's camera and microphone will be muted until he or she re-enables them, according to an image that Horowitz attached. (Horowitz himself said that the teen user would be "temporarily removed".)

"Between strong user protections and teen-focused content, it's our hope that young adults will feel at home (and have some fun) on Google+," Horowitz concluded. "And of course, we do have at least one thing in common with our newest users: we're both busy growing up."

The new additions provoked some concern among parents who commented to Horowitz's post, with some asking for parental controls over who and what their teens could do on Google+. "I agree with +Linda Lawrey, please no public hangout availability for teens, and block posting to public," Claude Rieth said. "And also please add an Icon to their hovercard so that teens are clearly identified as such, maybe a colored big T."

Apparently not everyone is as concerned. A November study found that some parents actively help kids skirt age restrictions on social-networking sites.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg said last year that he supports the inclusion of younger children on his site, but acknowledged that the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) - which prohibits companies from collecting information from kids under 13 - was an impediment. "That will be a fight we take on at some point," Zuckerberg said in May. "My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age."

About the Author

Mark Hachman Mark joined ExtremeTech in 2001 as the news editor, after rival CMP/United Media decided at the time that online news did not make sense in the new millennium.
Mark stumbled into his career after discovering that writing the great American novel did not pay a monthly salary, and that his other possible career choice, physics, require... See Full Bio

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